It occurs to me that in some ways Christianity is the most difficult of religions.  We have within our faith the concept of discipleship.  Indeed, if the Great Commission is to be believed, it is the cornerstone of our faith and witness.  Each and every believer should be a disciple, growing in the faith.  What is more, the exact steps we take to become better disciples are not all that clear.

In other religions this is not so.  When we lived in Sri Lanka we saw the dominant religion, Buddhism, up close.  There was no concept at all that ordinary Buddhists were to be engaged in continual study and growth.  That was for the monks.  If you were a “lay” Buddhist, you had a short list of things to do and not do and that was it.  Islam is similar.  There is a list of things you need to do and another you can’t do.  You could teach a course on being a good Muslim in an afternoon.

We, however, have a more difficult path.  And while there is plenty of Scripture to study we are often left to ponder the application of the concepts of Christian growth and discipleship.  With that in mind, here are some questions that have been rolling around in my brain of late on our faith.  If you’ve got some good answers, let me know.

  1. Have I grown spiritually in the last five or ten years and, more importantly, how do I measure that growth?
  2. If we are called Christians, or “little Christs” and desire to be “Christlike” why is the life of Christ so seldom a topic in sermons and Bible studies?
  3. Is church as we practice it today what Jesus had in mind when He came to build His church?
  4. Why is it that most Christians become less effective at reaching people for Christ the longer they have been saved and how can I avoid that?
  5. If God places a high value on detailed Biblical scholarship why is it that so many of those He saves are illiterate?
  6. Paul frequently pairs actions and attitudes (“speaking the truth in love”, “godliness with contentment” etc.).  How concerned am I that my attitudes are what they should be even as I am doing “the right things”?
  7. Since the 21st century church places a very high value on the family why is it that neither Jesus nor Paul had much to say about the family?

These are just a few.  And I frankly admit that, as I ponder these things, I usually come up with more questions than answers.  However, there is a silver lining to the need to be engaged in discipleship and growth on a regular basis.  I truly believe that God really doesn’t care all that much about the quality of our scholarship.  He’s not sitting up there in heaven grading our theological prowess.  His desire is to be in our thoughts because through this He blesses us and through this we can have the joy of realizing that we are always in His.